Orthoclase Feldspar Gemstone
Orthoclase is a gemstone in a feldspar group. The name orthoclase is a greek word meaning straight fracture which refers to the cleavage planes of orthoclase being at right angles to each other.
These three minerals form the potassium feldspar group.
Orthoclase feldspar gemstone. Gem quality orthoclase crystals are found at several locations around the world but madagascar produces the largest cuttable orthoclase known. Until recently this gemstone was though to be orthoclase and only recently have analyses determined it as being sanidine. Moonstone is usually an orthoclase feldspar but occasionally it is a labradorite.
The ri will easily separate them. Occasionally transparent crystals are cut as gems. For detailed physical properties see feldspar table.
Feldspars are the most common minerals on the earth s surface. All other feldspars are in the plagioclase series. Orthoclase is most widely known as the pink feldspar found in many granites and as the mineral assigned a hardness of 6 in the mohs hardness scale.
It is one of the most abundant rock forming minerals of the continental crust. Moonstone is an orthoclase feldspar and amazonite is microcline. Orthoclase is a rare gemstone that belongs to the feldspar group which also includes moonstone amazonite spectrolite and labradorite.
It is very difficult to find one so please look for a competent store if you need one. Orthoclase is used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics. It is polymorphous with the minerals microcline and sanidine.
Orthoclase as a mineral is a common feldspar but when described as a gemstone it refers to a rare transparent yellowish form of the mineral sanidine that is found in madagascar. Orthoclase is a very rare gemstone. They are almost identical in physical properties and it is sometimes impossible to distinguish one another without x ray analysis.
Orthoclase is primarily important as a rock forming mineral however and is abundant in alkali and acidic igneous rocks in pegmatites and in gneisses. Orthoclase is a feldspar mineral with a chemical composition of kalsi 3 o 8. Orthoclase gemstones are typically champagne yellow golden yellow or greenish though they can be other colors.
The potassium feldspars and the plagioclases a series from calcium to sodium feldspars. Feldspar feldspar is derived from german feld field and spath a rock that does not contain ore. Therefore it is also called feldspar they both have same meanings and effects.
Sunstone can be labradorite or oligoclase. Orthoclase is a component of many rocks especially alkalic and plutonic acid rocks also granites pegmatites and syenites. Therefore orthoclase is sometimes also called k spar.
There are two main subgroups that produce gems. Orthoclase is one of the most common minerals and occurs in numerous mineral environment s. Labradorite is the most common faceted feldspar.
Despite this it is still called orthoclase on the gemstone market since the name has already been established.
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